PEIRCED by Marie Colleen Dugger (fox in socks read aloud TXT) 📕

possibly be reality… can it? I must be going crazy!
Holly just sat there, not knowing what to say.
Why am I freaking out? Even if this is real its not that bad… i'm only being held hostage in a medieval tent. Oh and there is a war going on and a few people think I’m a spy! Yeah it’s not that bad! Well at least I’m not going to have to go see Dave today… wow… one upside to this place. I must be going crazy.
When holly didn’t say anything, Jensen turned and left. He couldn’t stop thinking of her while he headed for is tent.
The med. tent was next to the one Holly was being held in. in it Edward was awake. He had heard everything. What was going on with Jensen? When seeing a prisoner even a female he was always stern! Why did he talk like a weakling?
He was so confused. He would try to talk to the captain tomorrow. What was he thinking?!

#2

In the morning Jensen was still thinking of Holly as he entered the med tent. He saw Edward lying on is bed with his right calf wrapped up. Next to him were bowls of poppy, milfoil, and red clover.
“How is your foot?”
“It feels like a mosquito bite” Edward said with a wry smile.
“Oh really?” Jensen said as he tapped the dressing on his friend’s leg. Edward cringed, then smiled lightly.
“Hmm, that must have been some bug!”
“Yes. It was a bug that I have never seen before, nor wish to ever see again.” Edward said getting more serious.
There was an awkward silence for a little while then Edward said, “What was wrong with you? I heard you speaking to the girl yesterday. What happened?”
“Nothing, I talked with her and determined that she was no threat.”
What am I doing? He heard! He wouldn’t understand unless he actually saw what happened and how she looked! What am I going to do!
“Oh I’m so sorry Edward. I think Cessary is calling me.”
Jensen left quickly with Edward calling behind him; he’d have to deal with it later. Right now he needed to find Cia.
When he did find Cia he was on the practice field. He called him over. “Yes captain?”
“Where were you when you saw Holly?”
“Holly?”
“The girl.”
“Oh, towards the north end of the spark field.”
“Thank you. You may carry on.”
“Yes sir”
Jensen went strait to his tent and grabbed his sword. He sheathed it and headed southeast towards the spark field.

*****

When Holly woke up she heard voices in the tent next to her. They sounded like Jensen and another man. She heard footsteps leaving then the other voice yelling. “Jensen! C’mon! Get back here! What is going on with you?!”
What’s happening?
Holly shifted and something in her pocket poked her. “Ow” she reached down with her free hand and pulled out her pocket knife. Wow! Without thinking she started cutting the ropes. She didn’t want to attract attention so she pulled up the canvass at the back of the tent. She almost stood when she saw Jensen leaving towards the trees almost directly across from her tent. There was no one else around.
Holly got up and followed him. Better in the trees than in the camp. She followed him for a little while, tripping occasionally. He didn’t look back at all though he did stop and look up once.
After a while the trees thinned and Holly went farther behind. All of a sudden Jensen sped up and Holly lost him. She started running and burst into a clearing. She crouched down and got behind a tree. It’s the dry spot where I saw the men and got knocked out. Wait my shot gun! That must be why he’s here! Dang it!
She needed to get her gun back. Holly picked up a large stick and went around to Jensen’s back. He was looking around. All of a sudden he stopped and looked strait down. He started to bend over when Holly rushed him and gave him a heavy blow to the back of his head. What goes around comes around.

*****

Jensen awoke leaned against a tree. He had a huge headache and had no idea where he was. What happened? The last thing he remembered was looking for the weapon Cia said Holly held… someone or something must have hit him. But if something hit him why was he over here, wherever here was, and if someone hit him why didn’t they take him somewhere else?
He got up and checked himself over. He still had his sword, witch was good, but confused him even more. He had no idea and no sense of direction so he just started walking.
After he had been walking for about an hour he stopped to take a break. He sat next to a tree and just closed is eyes. He had such a headache! And it wasn’t just from being hit in the head, it was also from thinking too hard.
Why didn’t they take my sword? How did they know where I was going? Where am I going? I am so very confused! I hope one of the men notice I’m missing soon and-
Jensen didn’t finish his thoughts. He heard footsteps. They could be my men! “Hello?” he said as getting up from his resting place.
The footsteps started running towards him, and he heard voices, low and guttural. The Southern invaders! He drew his sword from his sheath just as three men merged into his view. It was too late to run away so he ran towards them. They didn’t expect him to run so quickly in there direction and he passed them easily. But he knew he couldn’t outrun them for long.
Jensen then stumbled into a large clearing. There was a small but deep river running through it. If I can just jump it I might be able to get away.
The southerners were short and had small legs. They wouldn’t be able to make the jump clearing the river.
He ran to the river as fast as he could as an arrow flew past him barely missing. He was about to jump it when another arrow cut through is heel making him lose his footing. He turned and instinctly moved one arm up to keep balance but he moved his arm too high and fell to the other side, on his sword hand. As he fell the blade cut deep into is thigh. He screamed a scream that pierced the quiet of the forest all around. Everything was silent except for the noise of the flowing water, the noise of the enemy running at him, and the noise of his own heart beat, and the pain he felt. He collapsed and fell into the river.
He heard a huge explosion and started slipping into unconsciousness from the pain and the sudden cold of the water.
The last thing he felt was tightness gripping is arm and pulling him.

*****

Holly left Jensen leaned against a tree and decided to hide in the brush and follow him back to the camp. She had nowhere else to go. She was starting to except that this might actually be, somehow, truly, reality, and she just had to deal with it.
She sat there in the brush and waited for Jensen to get up. It took a while, and she was about to get up and leave him and try to find her own way, when she heard him groan. Holly quickly ducked behind the brush again as she watched him slowly get up. He looked himself up and down and seemed surprised to see is sword in his sheath but he just shook his head. He started to rub the back of his head were Holly it him and he winced. Then he looked around and headed in a direction.
After about a half an hour of walking Holly got really confused. She didn’t remember the camp being this far away. Does Jensen know I’m trailing him? Is he trying to loose me? He has to go back to the camp.
She lagged behind farther but stayed close enough behind so she could still see him in her vision. She had walked for about another half hour when all of a sudden she lost sight of him.
She was about to start running to where she saw him last in her vision when she heard footsteps. She saw Jensen get up so she ducked down quickly. “Hello?” Jensen said. She heard the footsteps run in the direction of Jensen’s voice, just a few yards ahead of her. She saw them for only a second. Jensen drew his sword and ran at them.
What the #%*@! Is going on! Holly didn’t think and caulked her shotgun; she had carried all this way, and ran after them. They were fairly far ahead of her and she ran as fast as she could only to come to a short stop when she came to a clearing. One of the three men had a bow and arrow and was shooting at Jensen. The other two were running towards him and a small river.
An arrow seemed to hit Jensen in the foot and he fell on his sword and he screamed like nothing Holly had ever heard before. She raised her gun and shot the archer hitting him in the calf, and ran towards Jensen. The two other men stopped in their tracks at the sound of the explosion, and were petrified at the sight of their fallen comrade and Holly running towards them. She easily passed them but as she jumped into the river and arrow hit her in the shoulder. Pain shot through her whole arm, sharp and burning. She screamed as she fell below the surface and breathed in water at the sudden coldness of the river. She chocked it out and swam with the current rushing towards Jensen as fast as she could despite the pain in her arm.
She saw his back bobbing on the surface. His head was under water! She had to get to him fast. The current was slowing as she neared a bend in the river. She swam faster and reached out as she neared him.
Holly dug her nails into his back and strained to pull him closer as the river started to speed up again as they cleared the turn. She wrapped her wounded arm around his chest and held on as best she could with the pain of the arrow throbbing throughout most of her left side. With the other she stayed afloat and tried to grab a hold of the shore but she was going too fast. Her adrenalin and energy were fading. She knew she couldn’t keep Jensen, let alone herself above the surface much longer. She needed to slow down.
Holly reached her good arm out and started dragging it along the shore. It hurt so badly. Right now everything hurt. But she was slowing down! Her arm was becoming twisted and mangled. It was numb and she couldn’t feel it almost at all. She was slowing and the water had stared to slow too. Up ahead holly saw a small sandbar jutting out leading to shore. If she could just position herself so the water would carry her to it she would be able to get out of the water.
She pulled her right arm back into the water and started to swim, awkwardly, diagonally to the sandbar. She was so tired. Suddenly she felt something smooth on her feet and stopped swimming. She didn’t have time to smile. She was in pain and he might